Tension control means



May. 14, 1935. w, BROMS" 2,000,918

TENSION CONTROL MEANS Filed Feb; 2:5, 1932 2 Shets-Sheet 1 May 14, 1935.w. BROMS' 7 2,000,918

TENSION CONTROL MEANS Filed Feb. 23, 1952 2 Sheets-800st 2- Patented May14, 1935 I 2,000,918

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TENSION ooN'rRoL MEANS Arthur W. Broms,Chicago, 111.

Application February 23, 1932, sci-n1 No. 594,523

' 11 Claims. ((1242-75) invention relates totension control means, andspring balanced retarding means for engagand more particularly. to meansfor controlling ing and traveling along with the continuous sheet thetension in sheet material unreeling from a of material while it is beingdrawn from the roll, roll. and which control means further includesbrake 5 The main object of this invention is to provide means adapted tobe pre-set for providing and 5 means which will always maintain an evenor maintaining adesirable slight tension and reuniform tension in sheetmaterial traveling from tarding effect under usual conditions, alsoinclud a roll; as for example, a continuous sheet of paing additionalbrake means which is automaticalper traveling from the paper-roll to aprinting 1y applied when the pull on the material is de- D creased orstopped and the roll continues to un- Another object is to providecontrol means reeltoo'freely, and which automatic brake means for sheetmaterial drawn from a roll, so arranged is again released when theslackness in the methat, whenever the pull on the materialdeterialistakezi up,,' 7 creases or when the material breaks andjtheThese andigr'a'rious other objects and advanroll by its momentumcontinues to rotate and tages willrbecoi'ne apparent from the following15 unreel, said control means will be automatically description; takenin connection with the accomactuated to check the rotation of the rolland panying drawings,'in which the inventionis illusthe unreeling of thesheet material in such a trated in its preferred form of construction,it manner as to maintain an even tension in the being understood thatvarious other arrangemflteliah 'ments and forms of construction may bere- 20 Still another object is to provide such tension sorted to forcarrying out the objects and purcontrol mechanism which is adapted to beadposes of this invention. justed or pre-set to produce a certainretarding In the drawings: effect for maintaining a. desired tension inma- Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating my terial that isunreeling and while the material novel tension control meansin itspreferred form 25 is traveling at a substantially constant rate of ofconstruction, and as operating on acontinuous speed, and which mechanismwill automatically sheet of material while it is being drawn fromproduce additional retarding effect when the the roll. I materialbecomes slack or breaks and the roll Fig.2isaside elevational view ofthe invention, continues to unreel ahead of the lead, such adshowing infull lines the parts in the normal ditional retarding effect beingautomatically operative position, and showing in broken lines diminishedas such desired tension is again imthe position assumed by certain partswhen the parted to the unreeling material. roll runsahead of the lead.

A further object is to provide an improved Fig. 3 is an enlargedelevational view of the tension control means for unreeling material,combined manual and automatic brake device. 35 preferably by equippingit with retarding means In certain machines, such as printing p e swhich engages the material and is driven which perform work on sheetmaterial which is through such engagement, and which also indrawn orsupplied from a roll, mechanism is procludes brake means to apply abraking effect vided for supporting and journalling the roll.

upon said retarding means and therethrough and this preferably comprisesa swingable sup- 4 to the material engaged thereby while it is beingporting'frame containing a pairof side bars 8 unreeled. connectedcentrally by a rod ,9 which is adjusta- A still further object is toprovide-control bly mounted in bracketsmembers or supporting means forretarding and maintaining an even posts III, said bars and rod Ibeing'normally and balanced tension in material drawn from a clamped orheld firmly in position within said 45 roll, wherein said retardingmeans includes flexbracket members, but to allow swinging and adiblemeans which engages and travels along with justing thereof, as by theuse of means ll, so as the material and maintains the required arcing toplace and support the roll. in the desired posicontact with the roll andfurthermore includes tion. Each end of the pair of bars 8 is provided 60resilient means for -normally a ng an with suitable means, as indicatedat l2, for cenequalized uniform tension in the material, tering androtatably supporting the roll of paper whether the rolbis a full new oneor a small debetween said ends. pleted one. i v The continuous sheet ofpaper or material l3 .Still another/object is to provide such improvedissues from the upper roll I 4 mounted between tension control meanswhich comprises weighted the upper ends of said bars, while a new rolli5 is, in the meantime, mounted between the lower ends of said bars, tobe swung and supported in the proper upper position by the manipulationof means H, as soon as the'preceding upper roll is depleted, as is wellunderstood in this art.

In my invention the continuous sheet of material I 3 is guided from theroll l4 over a guide roller i6 which has stems II at its ends Journalledin bearing blocks I8 which are adjustably moimted, as by means ofadjusting elements ll, in a pair of bracket arms 20, said arms beingswingably supported, for example, by bracket means 2i provided on upperframe means or a beam 22 s which is supported on frame posts orstandards 23. Two check members, such as dash-pots 24, are pivotallymounted by bracket means 28 on the upper frame means 22 and haveprotruding piston rods or stems 2G pivotally attached to lugs 20' on thesides of arms 20, so that-when the lead from the feedroll becomes slacksaid arms 20 with roller l6 may descend freely through the action ofgravity, from the slanting retracted position shown in full lines in.-the drawings, to the lower position shown inbrokan lines in Fig. 2;however, so that the return travel of said arms 28 and of the rods 28into dash-pots 24 will be effected slowly and gradually as the tensionin the sheet of material is again increased.

This improved tension control means includes retarding means or members80 which engage the sheet of material and travel a. certain distancetherewith, and whereby a slight retarding effect and tension isconstantly applied to the traveling material. This means preferablycomprises a plurality of endless traveling belts which engagement totravel freely over the pulleys 8!,

as and as; and as these belts areof flexible or pliable material, as-for example, leather, they will curve or are properly on the rollwhatever the size of the roll may be, whether a-small depleted roll, asshown by roll l4 in Fig. 1, or a large new roll as shown by roll I!therein.

Means is provided to constantly produce a moderate tension in the beltsand maintain a moderate pressure of the belts on the material roll, tonormally maintain a slight retarding effect on and tension in theunreeling' material. For this purpose, the lowei'f pulleys 88 areweighted, each pulley having'a'fiair ofrods 88 depending from its axleshaft arid carryinga weight 40 at the lower ends thereof, being alsoadapted to receive and support additional veights 4| thereon, as may benecessary. Said weights 48 and 4| travel vertically along guide rods 42which are retained in proper position by a cross-bar 43 mounted onuprights 23. The variation in the size of the roll is automaticallycompensated for by the weighted pulleys 88 through their upward anddownward movement along the guide rods 42. v

I also provide resilient means for equalizing the tension on thematerial to compensate forthe 'diflerence in diameter or the size of theroll, and for that purpose springs 44 are preferably mounted on guiderods 42, between the weights and cross-bar 43. When the upper roll isfull, and its diameter and momentum is at a maximum, the belts lift theweights and greatly depress the springs, thereby increasing theirtension; and as the roll decreases in size, the belts allow the weightsto descend and the springs to become a greater arcing contact betweensaid roll and the belts, thus causing a longer grasp of the belts on thematerial and also a greater tension in the belts and greater retardingeflect thereby on the material. This retarding means is pre-set, byusing the proper weights 40 and, and springs 44 of proper tension, andby properly adjusting bars 8 and roll l4, thereby pre-arranging thismeans for slack and decrease their effect, thereby decreas the desiredslight and equalized retarding eifect and tension on the material.

I furthermore provide means herein for producing additional retardingeffect and tension in the material as it is being drawn from the roll;'

and this means is preferably in the form of brake means applied to theabove described primary retarding means or control means, and likeit,'is adapted to be pro-set, so as to increase the retarding eflect onthe roll and the tension in the material drawn therefrom, whenever foundexpedient. This brake means or additional retarding means preferablycomprises a brake drum 50 secured on one end of shaft 32, andcooperating brake means, for example, a brake band 5| carrying brakeshoes 52 to engage the exterior of said drum, said band being supportedin proper position by a bar 53 secured thereto and to frame v28. Anoperating shaft 54 is extended through the two ends 5 l of band 5!,having threaded connection with one of said ends and having rotaryconnection with the other, said shaft being operated manually by a handwheel 55 secured on one end thereof, whereby to press and-retain saidshoes against the brake drum and to release them therefrom. Thismanually adiusted brake means is adapted to be pre-set and thusfunctions as a secondary control means or to be used in conjunction withthe above described primary control means, both of which .are adapted tobe pre-set or adjusted for accurately producing the desirable retardingeffect and tension, under all normal conditions, so as to constantlymaintain an even and uniform tension in the material. I

In conjunction with said primary and secondary control means providedwith this invention, I'furthermore provide control means which isautomatically actuated under abnormal conditions,

'as when the material breaks or when the pull on the material issuddenly considerably decreased. This automatic control means preferablycomprises brake means which is-applied to drum SI,

"as for example, a brake band 54 carrying brake its other end pivoted toa rod 6| which is pivotally connected with a lug 62 provided on the sideof arm 20. A bar or rod is secured to band 56, and extends therefrom toframe post 23 for supporting the band in its proper position.

With this arrangement, when the material is traveling under the usualconditions and is under normal tension, as indicated in Fig. 1 of thedrawings, the guide roller It with its supporting arms 20 are forcedrearwardly into their elevated operative position, and they in turnforce rod GI and lever 60 rearwardly into the brake-release position, asindicated in full lines in the drawings, thereby moving block 58 andshoes 51 also into the brake-release position, as best shown in Fig. 3.Then, whenever the material breaks, or when the pull on the material isdecreased and the latter becomes slack, and the roll endeavors to unreelahead of the lead, the arms 20 with the guide roll l5 carried therebywill, by the force of gravity, promptly descend into the idle position,while rod 26 is thereby freely drawn outwardly of dashpot 24, asindicated by the broken lines in Fig. 2; thereby drawing lever 0 forwardso as to expand brake band 56 and press brake shoes 51 firmly againstthe brake drum, and promptly checking normally maintaining a slighttension in the material as it travels from the roll, and that at thesame time the variation in the retarding effect required due to thechange in the size of the roll, is automatically compensated for withthis invention. It is also apparent that I have provided for readilyapplying additional retarding and tensioning stress to the materialwhenever that is needed, so that the retardation can be definitelyadjusted to provide theexaot tension desired; also that these twotension control means are accurately adjustable for providing a veryelastic tension control for unreeling material to cover the varioususual or normal conditions. It is furthermore evident that with myautomatic control means I provide a prompt check and stop of theunreeling material whenever any unusual condition sets in, as when thematerial breaks or when the pull on the material is suddenly decreasedor stopped, whereby any further unreeling of the material isautomatically checked or stopped and the roll is prevented from runningahead of the lead. This invention thus covers an exceptionally widerange of tension control on sheet material traveling from a roll, andwhich can be very readily adjusted to produce from a very mild to a verystrong retarding efiect on the roll and tension inthe material unreelingtherefrom.

I claim:

1. Tension control means for material travelingfrom a roll, comprisingbelt means mounted to have an arced contact with the roll and-to bedriven thereby, rotary means for supporting said belt means, brake meansadjustably applicable to one of said rotary means for retarding itsmovement and the movement of said belt means to a predetermined extent,for maintain ing an even tension in the material, and other brake meansconnected to said adjustable brake means and roll when the materialsuddenly slackens.

v 3. Means for controlling the tension in traveling material, comprisingmeans which engages the material and is driven thereby, primary meansfor causing a slight retarding efiect on said driven means and therebyon the material, means adjustable for causing additional retardingefl'ect on said driven means, and means automatically actuated by thesudden \variation of tension in the material for automaticallycontrolling the movement of said driven means and thereby the travel ofthe material under abvnormal conditions and for stopping the roll upontearing of the material.

4. Tension control means for material traveling from a roll, comprisingbelt means and means for supporting it so as to engage the roll and tobe driven thereby, means carried by some of said supporting means forproducing a slight and automatically equalized retarding effect on thebelt means and thereby on the roll, means operating on other of saidsupporting means to produce an additional and predetermined retardingefiect upon said belt means and roll, guide means engaged by thetraveling material and moved thereby while under normal tension, andautomatic brake means actuated by said guide means to stop the travel ofsaid belt means and the roll when the material breaks and when itsuddenly slackens.

5. Tension control means for material drawn from a roll,comprising-endless belt means and rotary means for supporting the sameto produce an arced contact with the roll so as to be driven thereby,means carried by some of said rotary means for producing tension in anda slight retarding effect on the belt means and thereby on the roll,means operable on' some of said rotary means to produce a certainretarding eflect upon the belt means and roll under normal conditions,guide means over which said material .travels and which normally movesagainst gravity to an elevated position, automatic brake means connectedwith the last mentioned rotary means, and means connecting said guidemeans with said automatic brake means to actuate the latter when theguide means descends under the action of gravity, upon any suddenslackening or breaking of the material.

6. Tension control means for material traveling from a roll, comprisingbelt means and meansfor supporting the same so as to engage the roll andto be driven thereby, means connected with some of said supporting meansfor normally producing a slight retarding effect on the belt means andtheroll and tension in the material, guide means over which saidmaterial travels and which is normally carried to a retracted positionthereby, automatic retarding means to act on said belt means, meansconnecting said automatic retarding means with said guide means andbeing normally held in release position thereby but being moved toactive position therewith when the material breaks or suddenly slackens,and check means connected with said guide means to provide for a slowretracting movement but a prompt forward movement into active positionthereof and of the automatic retarding means.

7.'Tension control means for material drawn from a roll, comprisingbelt-means and rotary means for supporting the same to produce an archedcontact with the roll and to be driven thereby, spring-pressed weightmeans operating on some of said rotary means for producing a slight andautomatically equalized effect on the belt means and thereby on theroll, friction brake means operating on another of said rotarysupporting means to produce an additional retarding effect on said beltmeans and roll, means for manually adjusting said brake means, guidemeans engaged by the traveling material and during, normal operationmoved thereby against gravity, automatic brake means mounted incombination with said friction brake means, and means for connectingsaid guide means with said aut atic brake means to actuate the latterand take p slack in the material upon any slackening thereof and forautomatically stopping the roll upon tearing of the material.

8. Tension control means -for material drawn from a roll, comprisingbeltmeans and rotary means for supporting the same so as to engage the rolland to be driven thereby, adjustable weight means depending from some ofsaid rotary means and thereby carried by said belt means for producing aslight retarding effect on the roll and material, spring means connectedwith said weight means to compensate for the varying retarding efiectthereof due to the varying size of the roll, drum means on some of saidrotary means, manually adjustable brake means on said drum means forretarding the rotation thereof and of said rotary means for producing aselected retarding efiect thereon and on said belt means, automaticbrake means connected with said drum means, guide means over which saidmaterial travels and which it normally elevates, link means connectingsaid guide means and automatic brake means for automatically actuatingthe latter when the material suddenly slackens and for automaticallystopping said belt means and roll when the material breaks, and checkmeans connected with the guide means to provide for a slow retardingmovement but a prompt forward movement into active position thereof andof the automatic brake means.

9. Tension control means for material traveling from a roll, comprisingendless means engaging the roll and driven thereby, rotary means forsupporting said endless means, brake means adjustably applicable to therotary means for retarding the movement of the endless means and theroll to a selected extentand maintain an even tension in the material,and brake means operating automatically upon the rotary means to stopthe same and the endless means and the roll upon sudden slackening ortearing of the material.

10. Tension controk means for material traveling from a roll, comprising'endless means and means for movably supporting the same to engage theroll and be driven thereby, means connected to said supporting means fornormally retarding the movement of the endless means and the roll to aselected extent, and brake means normally inactive but operatingautomatically on said supporting means for stopping the movement of theendless means and the roll upon sudden slackening or tearlng of thematerial;

11. Tension control means for material traveling from a roll, comprisingendless means engaging the roll and driven thereby. supporting meanswhereon said endless means travels, brake means connected to saidsupporting means and normal-' means, being normally inactive butbecoming active for automatically stopping said endless means and theroll upon sudden slackening or tearing of the material. a

ARTHUR W. BROMS.

